Looking for Mo

After reading Duane's non fiction work - on climbing and surfing - I was particularly looking forward to this one. I must admit, I delayed my attempt at this one after reading some of the negative reviews. I shouldn't have. Duane has followed on where he left off with 'Caught Inside' - it's not your average novel. Certainly it reads with a lot of literary pretension. But it's the uncertainty of the central character - the questioning of his life ahead that grabs me. There are no answers - not even an entirely satisfying resolution - but that's life isn't it? It just keeps on rolling along, while we keep on looking for something .. or someone ...

I enjoyed my first book of D.Duane's. It was "required" reading for our informal climbing club, although I'm not sure why. It was easy to relate to the narrator's search for fulfillment. The metaphors were entertaining and insightful and simple to digest. The narrator's struggle with relationships and where one fits in the bigger scheme of life fit well in the context of El Cap. However, I was left with a yearning of my own satisfaction or closure, perhaps a guide for my own quest for fulfillment. Regardless, I recommend this book and look forward to more from Duane.

More than Dharma Bums revisited--kind of Queequeg & Ishmael climb El Cap as written by Kerouac. After reading Duane's book, I went back and tried to re-read Dharma Bums--couldn't do it. Eastern mystical stuff too hard to wade through. The characters here are real--I know some of them (worse, I may even be one...). And, unlike a lot of Kerouac, this is fun.As with both of Duane's other books, this is more than a good book, it's a true book.

A great mixing of urban and wilderness perspectives.s A nuanced view of the urban and outdoor facet of all of us. Read this winner!

Looking for Mo is a traditional tale set vertically on a big wall. You know, the wild friend everyone has and wants to be -- you hear reports about his latest adventures through the grapevine, receive cryptic emails from third world countries about how the morning light there is otherworldly. And when he returns you have to come to grips with his wildness, somehow incorporate it into your life and make it yours too, but you can't steal it from him. My version of Mo is in Chiapas, Mexico, somewhere. But I need him there. Duane gives an honest rendition of what it is to have a friend like Mo.